What moved us to release the Satorique 4 into the audiophile world before the Satorique 3 is simply because the game partners for the eagerly awaited Satorique 3 have not yet been available. So let's skip this one first, and then the Satorique 4 model will follow,so that the Satorique 3 - when the time comes - will certainly still have its due appearance in the listening room at a later date.

The Satorique 4 uses two new loudspeaker chassis from SB Acoustics' Satori line.

The 7.5" chassis MW19P-8 has comparable Thiele-Small parameters to its little brother with regard to the overall Qts and Vas quality. Paired with a 3 Hz higher resonance frequency, it quickly becomes clear that no great increase in draught is to be expected. With a common net volume of 46 litres, however, the 35 Hz limit is easily reached. The advantage is the larger diaphragm surface and the slightly larger stroke, which ultimately leads to a noticeably higher sound pressure. All in all this woofer is an excellent choice for a three-way construction. 

In the midrange, two 5" MW13P-8 drivers are used in a common, closed 8 litre cabinet. Actually, we didn't want to shoot all the powder at once and use the proven TW29R tweeter - known from the Satorique 1 - for the high frequencies. The level of over 93 dB in the bass midrange, however, put a damper on our plans. So we decided on the new TW29RN, which is 4 dB louder thanks to its more powerful drive.

A three-way construction is much more complex and elaborate to tune than a two-way box! Three loudspeakers with mostly different levels have to be brought to the same level and especially with parallel connected drivers the resistive load has to be taken into account. The situation is made more difficult by the fact that a vertical arrangement of the chassis (especially with a D'Apollito arrangement) is accompanied by a stronger directivity in the vertical direction and the measuring distance should be at least 2 meters. Without anechoic chamber for low frequencies a difficult task. For this reason the bass frequencies (except for near-field measurements) always appear with a certain ripple caused by ground reflections.

We have set the crossover frequencies at 250 Hz and 2,100 Hz. A 2nd order filter is sufficient in the low frequency branch. In order for this to be done really neatly, it is necessary to smooth the upper impedance bump using the R-C-L link. Otherwise the bass would become too powerful. 

We gave the green light to the use of a transformer core coil compared to a roller core coil because of the low distortion and equally low internal resistance. The 7.5" jewels thank it with dryness and precise drawing up to considerable volumes. The bass response remains controlled at all times.The high-pass filter for the two mid-range drivers is a bit special: A common 2nd order filter would strongly increase the midrange, which we definitely don't need. A 1st order filter prevents this, but only in combination with an R-C-L element gives the desired edge steepness of 12 dB. Although a serially wired series resistor would also solve the problem, it is not a very promising solution in terms of sound.

The filtering between midrange and high frequencies is done in the traditional way. The impedance curve moves within a 2 Ohm range, which makes correction unnecessary for tube amps. 

In order to enable people to start building their own loudspeakers, who do not want to tackle such a project due to time constraints or their tooling equipment, we offer a high-quality cabinet kit. The complete body is made of 19mm raw MDF. The 3D baffle is made of 30mm MDF. Optionally, the carcass can be manufactured with 19 mm MDF primer white, 19 mm MDF black or 18 mm birch multiplex (extra charge):

In the following we show the assembly with the housing kit.

Here very nice to see the separate chambers with the CNC milled struts. When building the cabinet, please make sure that the inner bracing has sufficiently large cut-outs, otherwise an incorrectly tuned double-chamber bass principle will result.

Carefully wet the edges with joint glue and insert the lamellas. Tighten everything with straps or clamps.

The crossover compartment for the woofers is located in the lowest compartment of the floorstanding speaker.

In the upper left of the picture you can see the CNC cut-outs to the remaining low frequency range, where two Sonofil mats still find a home. Even the small details distinguish such a kit - like here the cutout for the transformer core coil.

The lamellas give the kit a secure hold and fix the baffle. The 3 D baffle is also provided with cut-outs on the rear side in the area of the loudspeaker chassis.

Cabinet with baffle: ready for sanding and painting.For a very stately speaker, the loudspeaker cabinet is not that big. In our case we did not glue the baffle.

So, for priming and painting the Satorique 4 went into the paint booth. Signal white should be the 3D baffle and cabinet.

The baffle comes fresh from the paint booth. The 3D front does not look overloaded at all. The light refracts at the phase in the area of the D'Appolito arrangement and shows the magnificent curves of this baffle. This makes the silhouette look very narrow and comes very close to the overall impression of an elegant box.

The turnout is cleanly built on a specially milled circuit board. This is included in the scope of delivery and is delivered with the assembly diagram. This plug system makes it possible even for the inexperienced do-it-yourselfer to build a professional turnout.

Large components such as Audyn Caps should be additionally secured with a few drops of solvent-free adhesive and cable ties.

A standard commercial soldering iron is sufficient. Well packed between Bodum 800 the high/midrange crossover board finds its native place in this compartment. Tip: Secure the non-magnetic brass screws from the coils with a drop of super glue.

The passive crossover for the woofer compartment: everything well screwed in place, the large transformer core coil is soldered firmly to the woofer crossover. For better accessibility it is screwed to the switch compartment.

Previously labeled cables make it difficult to mix them up, and the pole terminals are soldered to the crossover and cables.

Damping 10, Bodum 800, Sonofil

In a closed midrange cabinet the Damping 10 fulfils its purpose at lower frequencies. In a reflex cabinet, interference in the midrange should be prevented without obstructing the flow, otherwise the bass reflex function will be impaired. The compacted polyester wadding Bondum 800, attached to the walls, is very suitable for this purpose. The rest is loosely filled with Sonofil.



Since the baffle was in the paint booth and the heat generated has caused minimal distortion on the baffle, it is advisable to use a construction PUR adhesive. So you play it safe when gluing the baffle afterwards because the construction adhesive fills the joints and swells.

Now the housing is as robust as if it was made from a single piece of cast iron.The high/midrange unit is then soldered. Pre-drilling and screwing of the 5 parties in a house as well as straight alignment of the chassis pays off optically. When the bass reflex tube is inserted into the large bass reflex port without shortening it, the finished speaker can finally be heard.

I was particularly excited about the listening session with the Satorique, especially regarding the D` Appolito arrangement of the drivers. What kind of sound does this arrangement produce in our 30m2 separated listening room?The size of the room is a thing of its own: probably no one has the perfect room at home, and often people try to change the sound by using different placement options in order to avoid possibly unfavourable room modes.Which immediately brings me to the subject of the bass compartment: How powerful does the membrane surface of the two woofers affect the bass reproduction? In this class it is not about extreme power this time, but the precision of the reproduction is what counts. Here the transformer core coil makes its decisive contribution to controlling the light papyrus membranes - the Satorique 4 does not allow itself any mistakes here: bass runs are presented in a structured manner, with the necessary grip and without loss of control and airiness. The Satorique 4 thanks it with an extraordinary bass precision up to the maximum volume level. It can play very loud and stays clean. The abandonment of the last bit of low bass in favour of the joy of playing such fast and light membranes fascinates me again and again. With great interest we listened to some selected CDs.What does the D'Appolito arrangement sound like? Does a frequency-independent stable spatial image result? And it came even better than I thought: there was no wandering from the midrange to the tweeter, which I perceive at least acoustically with one or the other speaker, here. The virtual point in space remains. It's pleasing to see how unproblematic the Satorique 4 performs in our medium-sized listening room. Whereby she would certainly gain in terms of spatial reproduction in a larger room. But who has a dance hall at home?

And what about home theater capability? A separate hearing was scheduled to clarify this: Some young people came on Thursdays for the combined sight/hearing appointment and brought their Blurays player with them, including visual music. They didn't have CDs or even LPs. So we quickly set everything up and wired the equipment for the music videos. Sort of Homecoming [Blu-ray] anathema.

After a few listening sessions we came across the Satorique 4, and since the release of the Satorique 4 was imminent anyway, we set up the brand new speakers and connected them. The Satorique4 brings the band realistically into the room. But with the Blueray, the goosebumps factor increased a lot more. I was drawn live to the cathedral. It sucked me into the TV. Have I missed anything so far? Blueray has not been the big issue for me until now. Even at this moment here at the desk where I write this report - with only two small PC boxes - the memories come back. I confess not to have heard of the band before.All right, back to what happened: A request has been made to hear louder. Of course I answered, I don't mind a little louder. But so loud - We were surprised and agreed that the bass is more than sufficient for a home cinema. Subwoofers are certainly not necessary for such concerts. We can't remember ever having turned up our stereo so loud. At extreme levels I have rarely heard a bass foundation so precisely.The tweeter is not a palliator when it comes to different types of music, but honest in the presentation of the singers. Who does not know it when the singer suddenly sings or shouts into the microphone at a live concert.

The Satorique 4 neither prefers nor neglects any frequency range, it masters its balance in all tonal ranges with a nonchalance that is only known from live concerts. The playing through of individual music styles with individual disciplines in the different Rock Jazz Blues classes could be saved. Tonally balanced in all registers, almost boring. A box for clean listeners.

Satorique 4Chassis:2x SB Satori MW19P-82x SB Satori MW13P-81x SB Satori TW29RNDimensions: H 112,5cm x W 23,5cm x D 34-37cm (depending on baffle)Depths of cut:Low-midrange driver: 7,5 mmTweeter: 5 mm binding posts: Intertechnik PK18 Insulation: original Sonofil, Bondum, Damping